Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared to wish for the death of Vladimir Putin in a Christmas message after Russia continued to bombard the country with missiles and drones.
In a video posted to X on Christmas Eve, Zelensky said that “despite all the suffering that Russia has brought, it is not capable of occupying or bombing what matters most. That is our Ukrainian heart, our faith in one another, and our unity”.
Appearing to refer to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Zelensky added: “Today, we all share one dream.
“And we make one wish – for all of us. ‘May he perish’, each of us may think to ourselves. But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. we ask for peace for Ukraine. We fight for it, we pray for it, we deserve it.”
His comments come after Russia hit regions across Ukraine with missiles and drones on Tuesday, killing at least three people, and triggering emergency power outages.
Further attacks on Christmas night saw at least two people killed in drone strikes on Odesa and Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s leader said in his address: “On the eve of Christmas, the Russians once again showed who they truly are.
“Massive shelling, hundreds of “shaheds”, ballistic missiles, Kinzhal strikes – everything was used. This is how the godless strike”.
“For all our fallen heroes who defended Ukraine at the cost of their lives. For everyone whom Russia has driven into occupation and forced to flee.
“For those for whom it is hard, but who have not lost Ukraine within themselves – and therefore Ukraine will never lose them. Today we stand shoulder to shoulder. We will not lose our way in the darkness.”
Zelensky has said that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war. Ukraine’s president explained that he would be open to this if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.
The US has proposed the creation of a “free economic zone”, which Zelensky said should be demilitarised.
A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control. But any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum, the president has insisted.
American negotiators have engaged in a series of talks with Ukraine and Russia separately since US president Donald Trump presented a plan to end the war last month — a proposal widely seen as favouring Moscow, which invaded its neighbour nearly four years ago.
Since then, Ukraine and its allies in Europe have worked to pull the plan closer to Kyiv’s position.
Russian air defence units downed 25 Moscow-bound Ukrainian drones throughout the day on Wednesday, according to Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
Ukraine’s military said its drones overnight had struck the Yefremov synthetic rubber plant in Russia’s Tula region south of Moscow and a storage facility for marine drones in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Tula regional Governor Dmitry Milyaev said debris from a downed Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an industrial site.
